Disability Living Allowance

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the total number of claimants experiencing delays in respect of appeals over disability living allowance giving the figures(a) in total and (b) for each month of delay. [26785]

The information is not available in the form requested. However, I am advised by the President of the Independent Tribunal Service that, as at 31 May, the case load of the disability appeal tribunal central office, which has responsibility within the independent tribunal service for processing appeals to disability appeal tribunals, was 19,808. This figure includes, in addition to disability living allowance appeals, appeals against attendance allowance, mobility allowance and disability working allowance decisions. It is made up as follows:

(i) Appeals which have been lodged with DATCO but are awaiting the adjudication officer's submission from the Benefits Agency—4,782;

(ii) Adjourned appeals which are awaiting further information before they can be prepared for re-listing—1,648;

(iii) Appeals for which DATCO has received the submission but which are not yet ready to list for hearing because they have not completed the pre-listing procedures—6,945;

(iv) Appeals on which the pre-listing procedures have been completed and which are ready for listing—3,506;

(v) Appeals which have been listed but not yet heard—2,927

The average clearance time for an appeal to a disability appeal tribunal, that is from lodgment of the appeal to date of hearing, is 23 weeks.>